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FAIRFIELD COUNTY, Conn. – Gov. Dannel Malloy released his proposed state budget for the next two years on Wednesday, which dramatically reduces or outright eliminates Education Cost Sharing grants for some of the wealthiest towns in Fairfield County, while maintaining or increasing aid for some of the larger cities.

In announcing his budget, Malloy said that the state would use a new formula in deciding how much money municipalities would receive in municipal aid, the majority of which goes toward schools in the form of ECS grants. The new formula would account for the wealth of towns as well as school enrollment, so that smaller and more affluent communities would receive less aid, while larger and less affluent communities would receive more.

Another change is that, in previous years, ECS grants have included money for special education. Under the proposed budget, those special education dollars would come from a separate fund.

Greenwich is the only Connecticut town in the proposed budget that would receive no ECS or special education grants.

Ten Fairfield County towns – Brookfield, Darien, Fairfield, New Canaan, Ridgefield, Sherman, Trumbull, Weston, Westport and Wilton – would receive no ECS grants but would still receive special education grants.

Three cities – Danbury, Norwalk and Stamford – would receive more ECS grants than in the previous year, in addition to special education grants.

The remaining nine municipalities in Fairfield County – Bethel, Bridgeport, Easton, Monroe, New Fairfield, Newtown, Redding, Shelton, and Stratford – would receive less money in ECS grants but would still receive some special education grants. Some of these towns would end up receiving more money overall than they did in the previous year.

“I believe that the updated ECS formula in my budget is more equitable, more transparent, and more fair,” Malloy said in his budget remarks. “By considering a given community’s ability to pay, we can adjust to what taxpayers can actually afford.”

Below is a town-by-town breakdown of ECS grant totals for 2017, proposed ECS grant totals for 2018, proposed special education grant totals for 2018, the total proposed school aid for 2018, and the year-to-year difference for every town in Fairfield County:

Bethel

ECS 2017: $8,087,732

ECS 2018: $4,209,487

Special Education 2018: $2,666,383

Total School Aid 2018: $6,875,870

Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $1,211,862 (14.9 percent)

Bridgeport

ECS 2017: $181,105,390

ECS 2018: $155,146,948

Special Education 2018: $39,109,458

Total School Aid 2018: $194,256,406

Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $13,151,016 (7.2 percent)

Brookfield

ECS 2017: $1,417,583

ECS 2018: $0

Special Education 2018: $903,182

Total School Aid 2018: $903,182

Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $514,401 (36.2 percent)

Danbury

ECS 2017: $31,290,480

ECS 2018: $33,594,209

Special Education 2018: $10,515,687

Total School Aid 2018: $44,109,896

Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $12,819,416 (40 percent)

Darien

ECS 2017: $406,683

ECS 2018: $0

Special Education 2018: $101,525

Total School Aid 2018: $101,525

Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $305,158 (75 percent)

Easton

ECS 2017: $177,907

ECS 2018: $14,462

Special Education 2018: $328,098

Total School Aid 2018: $342,560

Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $164,653 (92 percent)

Fairfield

ECS 2017: $1,087,165

ECS 2018: $0

Special Education 2018: $2,140,179

Total School Aid 2018: $2,140,179

Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $1,053,014 (96.8 percent)

Greenwich

ECS 2017: $136,859

ECS 2018: $0

Special Education 2018: $0

Total School Aid 2018: $0

Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $136,859 (100 percent)

Monroe

ECS 2017: $6,394,518

ECS 2018: $1,090,703

Special Education 2018: $1,530,266

Total School Aid 2018: $2,620,969

Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $3,773,549 (59 percent)

New Canaan

ECS 2017: $339,590

ECS 2018: $0

Special Education 2018: $116,734

Total School Aid 2018: $116,734

Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $222,856 (65.6 percent)

New Fairfield

ECS 2017: $4,338,569

ECS 2018: $543,196

Special Education 2018: $1,236,958

Total School Aid 2018: $1,780,154

Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $2,558,415 (58.9 percent)

Newtown

ECS 2017: $4,893,944

ECS 2018: $969,688

Special Education 2018: $2,408,508

Total School Aid 2018: $3,378,196

Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $1,515,748 (30.9 percent)

Norwalk

ECS 2017: $11,243,340

ECS 2018: $11,952,439

Special Education 2018: $5,842,488

Total School Aid 2018: $17,794,927

Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $6,551,587 (58.2 percent)

Redding

ECS 2017: $180,135

ECS 2018: $16,000

Special Education 2018: $430,780

Total School Aid 2018: $446,780

Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $266,645 (148 percent)

Ridgefield

ECS 2017: $571,648

ECS 2018: $0

Special Education 2018: $532,259

Total School Aid 2018: $532,259

Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $39,389 (6.89 percent)

Shelton

ECS 2017: $5,893,771

ECS 2018: $2,104,762

Special Education 2018: $2,637,222

Total School Aid 2018: $4,741,984

Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $1,151,787 (19.5 percent)

Sherman

ECS 2017: $46,611

ECS 2018: $0

Special Education 2018: $96,343

Total School Aid 2018: $96,343

Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $49,732 (106.6 percent)

Stamford

ECS 2017: $10,803,759

ECS 2018: $16,246,944

Special Education 2018: $6,381,603

Total School Aid 2018: $22,628,547

Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $11,824,788 (109.4 percent)

Stratford

ECS 2017: $21,461,782

ECS 2018: $19,204,491

Special Education 2018: $9,326,861

Total School Aid 2018: $28,531,352

Year-to-Year Difference: Increase by $7,069,570 (32.9 percent)

Trumbull

ECS 2017: $3,418,401

ECS 2018: $0

Special Education 2018: $2,535,858

Total School Aid 2018: $2,535,858

Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $882,543 (25.8 percent)

Weston

ECS 2017: $263,431

ECS 2018: $0

Special Education 2018: $150,203

Total School Aid 2018: $150,203

Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $113,228 (42.98 percent)

Westport

ECS 2017: $465,334

ECS 2018: $0

Special Education 2018: $198,687

Total School Aid 2018: $198,687

Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $266,647 (57.3 percent)

Wilton

ECS 2017: $462,941

ECS 2018: $0

Special Education 2018: $431,204

Total School Aid 2018: $431,204

Year-to-Year Difference: Decrease by $31,737 (6.85 percent)

The Connecticut General Assembly has until the end of its legislative session in June to debate, make adjustments to, and decide on the proposed budget. You can see the complete budget by
clicking here.